Arthur Lett-Haines was a British painter and sculptor who experimented in many different media, though he characterized himself as "an English surrealist". He was part of a London artistic circle, which included D.H. Lawrence, the Sitwells (Dame Edith Sitwell and Sir Osbert Sitwell) and Wyndham Lewis. Sir Cedric Morris was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. As an artist, he is best known for his portraits, flower paintings and landscapes. In 1916, Lett-Haines married Gertrude Aimee Lincoln at Hailsham, but he met the painter Cedric Morris in 1918. Morris and Lett Haines fell in love and began a lifetime relationship, and shortly afterwards Morris moved in with Haines and his wife, Aimee. The trio planned to go to America, but in the event, Aimee Lett-Haines left on her own, and the two men moved to Cornwall. This relationship lasted some 60 years, despite its open nature that included attachments on both sides such as Haines' affair with the artist and author Kathleen Hale. In 1937, Morris and Haines founded the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Dedham. The school closed when Haines died in 1978, though Morris continued to live at Benton End until his death in 1984.Together from 1918 to 1978: 60 years.Arthur Lett-Haines (1894 – February 25, 1978)Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (December 11, 1889 – February 8, 1982)

Arthur Lett Haines was born at 9 Walterton Road, Paddington, London on November 2, 1894Address: 9 Walterton Rd, London W9 3PE, UK (51.5253, -0.20009)Type: Private PropertyPlaceA Victorian conversion, divided in flats. Walterton Road is a quiet and popular residential street located within close proximity of the extensive amenities in Queens Park, Maida Vale and Notting Hill. Transport links including Westbourne Park (Hammersmith & City Line), Queens Park, Maida Vale and Warwick Avenue (Bakerloo Line.)LifeWho: Arthur Lett-Haines (1894 – February 25, 1978)During WWI Arthur Lett-Haines served in the British Army and after the war he involved himself with the artistic set which included E. McKnight Kauffer, John Middleton Murry, the Sitwells, Wyndham Lewis, Katharine Mansfield and D. H. Lawrence about which time he hyphenated his name to Lett-Haines. In 1916 Lett-Haines married at Hailsham, Sussex, Gertrude Aimee Lincoln, but in 1918 he met painter Cedric Morris, who moved in with them; the following year his wife Aimee, departed for America while Morris and Lett-Haines, although a stormy partnership, lived together as lovers for some sixty years. After initially living at Newlyn, in 1920 they moved to Paris becoming part of an expatriate artistic community that included Juan Gris, Fernard Léger, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Nancy Cunard and Ernest Hemingway. They briefly returned to London in 1926, before moving to Suffolk in 1929. Lett-Haines largely subordinating his own artistic career to promote that of his partner Cedric, despite its open nature that included attachments on both sides such as Lett-Haines’s affair with the artist and author Kathleen Hale (1898-2000.) Like his friend John Middleton Murry (1889-1957), Haines gave his students freedom to develop along independent lines and Haines himself was a less consistent painter than Morris and his work had a strong linear element. Operating on a live-in basis that mingled artistic development with a social circle, its pupils included Lucian Freud, Bettina Shaw-Lawrence, David Kentish, Maggi Hambling, David Carr, Joan Warburton and Glyn Morgan. The school he founded, Benton End, closed when Haines died on February 25, 1978, although Morris continued to live at Benton End until his death in 1984.

After staying with his sister Nancy Morris in Corfe (Taunton, Somerset TA3), Cedric Morris (December 11, 1889 –February 8, 1982) and Arthur Lett-Haines found a studio in London at Great Ormond Street to which they moved in 1927.

At the time of the Armistice with Germany in Nov. 1918 Cedric Morris was in London, where he met the painter Arthur Lett-Haines.Address: 32 Great Ormond St, London WC1N, UK (51.52201, -0.11983)Type: Private PropertyPlaceCedric Morris settled in London in 1927, with a big studio at 32, Great Ormond Street, which soon became a gathering place for most of his contemporaries. Upon his arrival Roger Fry, whom he had known in Paris, elected him to the London Group and took two of his canvasses for the International Exhibition at Buenos Aires. Later, Ben Nicholson elected him to the 7 & 5 Society. He continued to exhibit with these groups for several years. In May 1927, he had his first One Man Show at Messrs. Arthur Tooth and Sons, which was a phenomenal success and thereafter has held exhibitions with West End dealers at intervals of two or three years. He has also had exhibitions at the Hague and in New York, and has been an international exhibitor at Brussells, Buenos Aires, Venice, Chicago, Pittsburg, and San Francisco. There are samples of his work in most of the important public galleries. The success of his first exhibition at Messrs. Tooth enabled him to fulfill a long defined project of painting in Wales and much of his work is of Welsh landscapes. He initiated the Welsh Contemporary Art Exhibitions in 1935, from which sprang the Welsh Contemporary Art Society.LifeWho: Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (December 11, 1889 – February 8, 1982) and Arthur Lett-Haines (1894 – February 25, 1978)Sir Cedric Morris was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is best known for his portraits, flower paintings and landscapes. Morris went to Zennor in Cornwall, where he studied plants and painted water colours. At the time of the Armistice with Germany in Nov. 1918 he was in London, when he met the painter Arthur Lett-Haines. Morris and Lett-Haines fell in love and began a life-time relationship, and shortly afterwards Morris moved in with Lett-Haines and his second wife, Aimee. The trio planned to go to America, but in the event Aimee Lett-Haines left on her own, and the two men moved to Cornwall. They converted a row of cottages at Newlyn into a larger house and stayed there until the end of 1920, when they moved to Paris. This relationship lasted some 60 years, despite its open nature that included attachments on both sides such as Haines’ affair with the artist and author Kathleen Hale. Paris was their base for the next five years, when they travelled extensively in Europe. Morris also studied at the Academies Moderne and La Grande Chaumiere. Morris had successful exhibitions in London in 1924 and 1926, and later in that year they settled back in Britain. After staying with his sister Nancy Morris in Corfe, Morris and Haines found a studio in London at Great Ormond Street to which they moved in 1927. Morris became a member of the London Artists Association and the Seven and Five Society, for which he was proposed by Winifred Nicholson and seconded by Ben Nicholson. He became especially friendly with the painter Christopher Wood, and renewed friendship with Frances Hodgkins. At the end of the 1920s Morris became involved with much commercial work designing textiles for Cresta Silks with Paul Nash and posters for Shell and B. P.

Cedric Morris chose the country life to pursue his passion for horticulture. Early in 1929 Morris and his companion, Arthur Lett-Haines, took the lease of Pound Farm, Higham, Suffolk, and in February 1930 they gave up the London studio.Address: Hadleigh Road, Higham, Suffolk CO7 6LE, UK(51.99071, 0.95763)Type: Private PropertyEnglish Heritage Building ID: 277246 (Grade II, 1955)PlaceThe Pound is a XVI-XVII century house with XIX century wing to left and XX century alterations. Timber-framed, rendered with red brick stack, XIX century wing red brick with some dark brick headers. Plain tile roof. Single-storey and attic range with gabled jettied cross wing at left. 2-storey brick addition. Half-glazed door to cross wing, jettied 1st floor. 3-light XX century casement, bargeboards to gable. 24-pane fixed window with single opening light to hall, end of beam protrudes at floor level. XX century casements and further door to right. 2 gabled dormers with XX century windows. Small XX century ridge stack to right and sawtooth stack between cross wing and hall. Brick range 3-light windows under segmental arches, 2 replaced 16-pane sashes in flush architraves above. Pair of large gabled wall dormers to rear hall range. XX century extension under pent roof. Interior: hall, somewhat rebuilt inglenook. Chamfered beam and exposed joists. LifeWho: Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (December 11, 1889 – February 8, 1982) and Arthur Lett-Haines (1894 – February 25, 1978)In 1932 the owner of Pound Farm, Vivien Gribble, who was for a while his student, died and left it to Cedric Morris. Morris had resigned from the Seven and Five Society in 1930 and he resigned from the London Artist’s Association in 1933. There were many visitors at Pound Farm, including Frances Hodgkins, Barbara Hepworth and John Skeaping. Joan Warburton who was a student described Pound Farm as a paradise, mainly because of the spectacular gardens which Morris developed. She was also impressed by their spectacular parties. Morris often went painting in his native South Wales, and in 1935 at the time of the Depression was moved by the plight of the people of South Wales Valleys. He initiated a major touring exhibition of Welsh art in 1935, and was a regular teacher at Mary Horsfall’s Art’s centre at Merthyr Tydfil. In 1935 he painted two large flower murals on board the liner Queen Mary. In late 1937 Morris and Haines joined the Hadleigh Labour Party after attending a meeting addressed by Professor Catlin.

Benton End House was originally a large medieval farmhouse. From 1940 it was the home of Sir Cedric Morris, artist and plantsman, who formed the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing there. Students included Lucian Freud and Maggi Hambling.Address: Benton Street, Hadleigh, Suffolk IP7 5JR, UK (52.03691, 0.95912)Type: Private PropertyEnglish Heritage Building ID: 277783 (Grade II, 1950)PlaceBuilt from the XVI century, Design by Sir Peter CheyneyXVI century and later, 2 storeys and attics, timber framed and plastered, roofs tiled. Front wings extend North and South, and wing at back extends East. The front has been largely altered and includes XVIII century features. There are 3 gabled attic dormers. 3 window range, flush frame, sash. Upper storey projects. Large, shouldered, chimney at either end. The central doorcase has flat hood on scroll brackets. At North end of front is an octagonal brick pier with pointed cap. The East wing has a brick gable with octagonal flank piers, coping and chimney stack with 2 octagonal shafts (moulded bases.) The timber framing is exposed and there is some brick nogging.LifeWho: Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (December 11, 1889 – February 8, 1982) and Arthur Lett-Haines (1894 – February 25, 1978)Cedric Morris and Lett-Haines opened the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Dedham in April 1937. Within a year they had 60 students. Lucian Freud was one of his most noted students. In 1939 the building at Dedham was destroyed by fire with several of Morris’s paintings also destroyed. By the end of the year the school was re-established at Benton End. Benton End was a rambling “Suffolk Pink” farmhouse on the outskirts of Hadleigh, set in 3 or 4 acres (1.6 ha) of orchard. Morris was intolerant of cruelty to animals and at Benton End had a running feud with a local gamekeeper who shot cats and dogs - until the latter tripped over his shotgun and killed himself. In addition to running the school, Morris indulged his passion for plants. He grew about 1,000 new Iris seedlings each year and opened Benton End to display his collection. He produced at least 90 named varieties, 45 of which were registered with the American Iris Society. Some were sold commercially and exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show. Many of his named varieties carried the prefix "Benton,” including “Benton Menace” named after his cats, and “Benton Rubeo,” named for his pet macaw. He also used to walk the fields and hedgerows searching for softer colour variants of poppies. Morris’s work as a horticulturalist resulted in a number of plants being names after him. Morris bred birds as a hobby and his knowledge and understanding of them may have contributed to his ability to paint them. In his “Peregrin Falcons” (1942), the birds are presented in a slightly formalised and simplified manner. His intention, he explained, was to "provoke a lively sympathy with the mood of the birds which ornithological exactitude may tend to destroy." In 1947 the Morris baronetcy came to his father from a distant cousin three months before his death and Cedric Morris succeeded his father in the same year to become the 9th Baronet Morris. He became a lecturer at the Royal College of Art in 1950. From about 1975 Morris virtually gave up painting because of failing eyesight. The school closed when Haines died in 1978, though Morris continued to live at Benton End until his death. Cedric Morris died on February 8, 1982. His former pupil, Maggi Hambling visited him on the day before his death and afterwards drew a portrait of him. His grave in Hadleigh cemetery is marked by a Welsh slate headstone cut by Donald Simpson.

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